Roller for sliding doors



(No Model.)

J. H. LAWRENCE.

ROLLER FOR SLIDING DOORS No. 319,494. Patented June 9, 1885.

\A/iTNEEfiE?! INVEN EJ N, PETERS. Pholwlhhcmphar, Walhi nnnnnn C iharrnn STATES Parent Orrrcn.

JOHN H. LAWRENCE, OF STERLING, ILLINOIS.

ROLLER FOR SLIDING DOORS.

GPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 319,49L, dated June 9,1885,

Application filed March 14, 1885.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. LAWRENCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ster ling, in the county of WVhiteside and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rollers for Sliding Doors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the in Vention, such as will enable others skilled. in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has reference to rollers for door-hangers, and pertains more especially to a peculiar form or construction, by means of which the wearing and exposed parts can be made of steel and cost but little more, if anything, than iron. It is remarkable that door hangers, as generally constructed heretofore, have had great strength in the frames, and in fact in every part but the roller-the part in which the wear and the exposure to breakage are the greatest-and for rollers cast-iron is used, which soon cuts itself out, or is broken from casual blows or collisions, 850., when the residue of the hanger becomes worthless. Cast-iron is used for the rollers by reason of the cheapness in thus obtaining the desired form and the great expense and impracticability of procuring such form from wroughtiron, and even the latter is too soft to resist wear and too liable to bend for good results. Cast-steel would be hard enough; but the objection to its use is its great expense. By my mode of constructing the rollers I can utilize rolled steel, and thereby obtain a toughness and resistance to wear and fracture superior to that obtainable from any quality of iron.

As my invention islimited to the roller, and the mode of applying and operating the latter is well known, I do not deem it necessary to show or describe any other portion of the hanger.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of my inventionperpendicular to the axis of the roller, such view being partially in section, so as to exhibit the internal relation of the parts. Fig. 2 is an end view of the intermediate cylinder or filling 0. Fig. 3.is apartial side ele vation of one of the exterior plates A.

(No model.)

A A are circular plates stamped by means of dies from rolled plate-steel, such as are generally used for plowshares. The wheels A A, when in place, constitute in conjunction the bearing and carrying wheels of the door.

B is a short steel shaft, which forms the axis of the roller.

G is an interior filling or cylinder, preferably cast upon the shaft B, and designed to furnish means for mutually attaching the plates or wheels A A without bringing the latter into actual mutual contact. For this reason the filling O is of a length corresponding to the width of the bar on the barn or building ledge, which projects between the plates A A, and prevents the latter from leaving their track. The filling or cylinder 0 may furnish the bearing-surface of the roller, being supported by and upon the projecting bar aforesaid, in which case the plates or wheels A would serve as guides, and, if preferred, the cylinder 0 and wheels A, after being mutually consolidated, as hereinafter described, may revolve upon the shaft B instead of with it. The shaft B is of such length as to project sufficiently at each end through the plates A to furnish bearings at such ends for the door, the latter being carried, in the usual way, upon the extreme ends of the shaft B, by means either of brackets provided with horizontal slots traversed by such ends or horizontal bars or rails attached to the door, resting upon and traversed on the under side by the ends of the shaft B; or, if preferred, the ends of the shaft B may be journaled in the plate or hanger attached to the door.

As the point-s of support of the door-i. e., the ends of the shaft B-are necessarily small, and great friction created thereat, it is very important that the material of such shaft be such as to resist wear and afford a maximum of strength. This is accomplished in my invention by constructing such shaft of steel, as aforesaid. Screw or rivet bolts D D are passed transversely through the wheels A A, and through grooves or holes in the filling O, and serve to unite and render integral the parts A A and O. The carrying-rollers,when thus constituted of steel, and having a steel shaft, afford great strength in a small compass, and furnish such strength at the points where the I same is most urgently required, and where it upon the filling O, the latter can be made of common gray cast-iron. The Wheels A A take and sustain all of the lateral strain and twist. 4

The novelty and advantage of my invention Consist in so shaping and interlocking the parts that it becomes practicable to utilize a kind of material peculiarly qualified to meet the requirementsof its intended use.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of 'the United States, is

The combination, in a door-roller, of the circular plates A A with the shaft 13,. filling or cylinder 0, and connecting-bolts D, substantially as shown, and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I aflix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

' JOHN H. LAWRENCE.

VVilnesses:

7 WILLIAM lVIANAHAN,

GEO. S. HOOVER. 

